Traditionally water treatment systems, such as those used in desalination, ground water remediation or liquid recycling plants, have high energy requirements which can account for between 50% and 70% of the total operating costs, making such plants prohibitively expensive and impractical, particularly in developing countries and in locations without a reliable energy supply.
In addition, known methods of liquid treatment such as reverse osmosis, utilizing activated carbon filtration and optionally ultra-violet or ozone exposure, typically do not have the capacity for efficient treatment of source liquids such as seawater or brackish water and usually require pre-treatment such as pre-filtration and/or chemical treatment. Additionally, filtration can lead to operational problems such as filter clogging and the need for sterilization of the filtration apparatus on a regular basis to prevent build-up of mold, algae and bacteria contaminants.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a water treatment system which provides a suitable treated product water and which is compatible with and complementary to other methods of water treatment. Further aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.